Leed Gold certification awarded to Jade Mountain in St Lucia

The Jade Mountain hotel in St Lucia has become the first hotel in the Caribbean to receive the prestigious LEED GOLD certification status. Designed by owner Nick Troubetzkoy, the luxury hotel boasts a number of eco-friendly and sustainable features, including its own rainwater-fed water purification plant system, and system that recycles treated sewage water.

The LEED GOLD certification status has been awarded to the Jade Mountain resort in St Lucia. It’s the first time a hotel in the Caribbean has received the coveted certification, and the property has several sustainable and environmentally-friendly practices.

Designed by owner, Nick Troubetzkoy, the luxury resort is famous for its magnificent setting overlooking the Pitons, and its three-wall guest rooms that allow visitors to enjoy the vistas. The resort’s sustainable features include its own rainwater-fed water purification plant system, as well as a system that recycles treated sewage water, and then irrigates a nursery and plants that are grown for the hotel’s gardens.

Rick Fedrizzi, the CEO and founding chairman of the US Green Building Council (USGBC), commented:

“Achieving LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold, as Jade Mountain has done, demonstrates an exceptional level of leadership in the industry. I congratulate both the owners (Nick and Karolin Troubetzkoy) and the project team for this significant achievement.”

Speaking about the design of the hotel’s guest rooms, that are known as sanctuaries, Nick Troubetzkoy, said:

“We aimed to give our guests the feeling of entering a private space fully integrated into the island’s ecology, where they could simply relax, breathe in the air, while basking in the surroundings and enjoying a wonderful sense of calm and peace — versus being boxed into a traditional hotel room breathing recirculated, machine-processed air.”

The US Green Building Council role is to monitor the design, construction and operation of sustainable buildings through LEED, a third-party verification system. The Green Building Council adjudicators felt Troubetzkoy had succeeded and noted:

“This is a very impressive accomplishment for such a unique project, and we congratulate you and your team on implementing some pioneering, non-traditional approaches to the LEED prerequisites and credits.”

The US Green Building Council monitors the way buildings are designed, constructed and operated through Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED), a third-party green building verification programme. The Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Kingston in Jamaica is a LEED-certified building, but Jade Mountain is the first Caribbean hotel to receive the prestigious LEED Gold status.

Jade Mountain has been sculpted into the Soufriere hillside above its sister beach resort, Anse Chastanet. The multi-award-winning resort has 29-room lavish and spacious guest suites with bedrooms, living areas, and private infinity pools that glide into one another to form platforms that float out into the natural surroundings. Rooms feature locally-made wooden furniture, and are free from TVs, phones, radios to allow total relaxation for guests.